News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Why Scientists Are Falling For A Blind, Albino, Binge-Eating Cavefish
Bob Caviar has seen his share of heavy eaters. He’s the owner of Papa Bob’s Bar-B-Que in Kansas City, Kansas, and the creator of a sandwich he’s christened “The Ultimate Destroyer.” “This wasn’t designed as a challenge,” Caviar says. “It was really designed to feed families.” But the football-sized sandwich, which contains four and a…
Take 5 For Your Health
Brownback Budget Cuts Include $56 Million From Medicaid Gov. Sam Brownback trimmed more than $56 million from Medicaid in Kansas as part of larger budget cuts announced Wednesday, raising concerns that health care providers may decide not to take unprofitable patients. About $38.2 million of the $56.4 million in budget cuts comes from reducing reimbursements…
Consumer Protection Board Coming to KC
A federal agency dedicated to protecting the public from debt traps has scheduled a public hearing in Kansas City next month. Convened by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the hearing is scheduled to include remarks from CFPB Director Richard Cordray along with testimony from consumer groups, industry representatives, and members of the public. The…
Take 5 For Your Health
Cerner Faces Another Lawsuit Over Its Overtime Policy Another class-action lawsuit alleging Cerner illegally failed to pay employees overtime wages has been filed against the health care technology company. The latest was filed in federal court in Kansas City on behalf of so-called AMS delivery consultants at Cerner, basically help desk workers who offer technical…
Blue Springs is Latest Battleground For Education Program
Laura Shepherd loved it when the kids entering Franklin Smith Elementary got a morning hug from the principal. But that was last year. This year, Shepherd hated watching building leaders at the Blue Springs, Missouri, school greet her fourth-grader and other students with handshakes. “I’m like, ‘They are not mini-adults. They are kids,’” she said….
Round One: Teamsters
After months of uncertainty about their future, local truckers held a rally Monday morning at Teamsters Local Union 41 in Kansas City celebrating the U.S. Treasury Department’s decision to reject Central States Pension Fund’s application to reduce pensions for more than 400,000 current and retired truck drivers. On Friday, Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney appointed by…
Take 5 For Your Health
Kansas Action For Children CEO Leaving For Job In Nebraska Shannon Cotsoradis, president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children, is stepping down after 19 years at the nonprofit advocacy organization. Cotsoradis is leaving to assume “a leadership role” at the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative, LLC, according to a KAC news release issued Monday morning….
‘It’ll be devastating.’
More than a quarter of a million Teamsters and their spouses are facing the very real possibility that their pensions may be reduced up to 70 percent by July 1st, as they await a decision by the United States Treasury Department on the matter this weekend. Managed by the Central States Pension Fund, which handles…
Meet the Young Filmmakers Going ‘Beyond Belief’
Above a shop in the Crossroads Arts District a group has assembled with video equipment to venture out for street reporting. “Where do you guys want to go?” Lisa Marie Evans asks the others. She lives in the space adorned with framed artwork that has a sophisticated balance of welcome and edge. “P & L,”…
Take 5 For Your Health
In Missouri, 300,000 Patients’ Dental Care Is In Limbo As State Struggles To Fund Coverage Earlier this year, 69-year-old Aneita McCloskey needed her two front teeth filed down and capped. “They were kind of worn down, and they were also getting little tears and cavities,” she recalls. Without dental insurance, McCloskey is on the hook…